Moochdocking in Longmont

Ahhh, our first moochdocking experience. I didn't coin the clever term but it's a perfect word to describe staying on a friend/family member's property and "mooching" off their resources in a driveway for example or, in our case, back in a sunny orchard.

My mother's cousins live in Longmont, CO and by coincidence, so does Alex's brother. My mother assured me that Cousin Sarah and Cousin Abigail had a farm with plenty of space for an RV and would be open to having us stay. So this seemed the perfect time to reach out and meet some extended family members.

Sarah and Abigail and family could not have been more welcoming and we enjoyed just over a week parked back in their orchard in Longmont. It was a perfect base camp for exploring Boulder and Denver. Our only regret is that we were there during the Fourth of July holiday so we didn't brave Rocky Mountain National Park which was literally just minutes from where we stayed. After seeing Grand Canyon National Park during Memorial Day, we had little interest in being anywhere near a park during a holiday week.

Longmont has excellent proximity to the Rockies, to Denver and to Boulder but without the Boulder and Denver cost of living. We had a lovely family dinner with CJ and his mother, visited the Saturday Farmer's Market, explored historic Main Street and ate at a restaurant called Samples World Bistro which has a lovely outdoor rooftop dining area.

Neither of us had ever been to Denver so we looked forward to seeing the city and used the opportunity to visit with Alex's friend, Elliot aka DJ Wushu and see him play at his Friday night spot, Mile High Spirits. We basically bar hopped our way through downtown Denver. Freshcraft in the city's LoDo (Lower Downtown) District was our first stop, followed by Occidental Bar in the LoHi (Lower Highlands) District and lastly, dinner with Wushu at Meadowlark Kitchen in the RiNo (River North) District. We returned a few days later so Alex could spin a quick guest set with DJ Wushu at 715 Club in Five Points.

We spent one day in Boulder exploring the Pearl Street Mall. The Pearl Street Mall is a four block long pedestrian mall with tons of shopping, dining, and street performers. We walked for several hours and still barely scratched the surface of what Boulder has to offer.

The rest of our time in Longmont was spent repairing the exterior of the RV. On our way into town, we had a little run in with a gas station pump island. The gas pump was fine but our home sustained some considerable exterior damage. This was our first big "oh fuuuuuuck" moment as we both realized we were just inches away from having done serious damage to our plumbing and electrical systems. But Alex, ever the handyman, made a trip to Home Depot and Harbor Freight and rebuilt the storage bays and the exterior of the RV by himself. He's my hero.